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Rep. Lee Issues Statement on Nomination of Judge Kavanaugh

Targeted News Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 -- Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California, issued the following speech, which was published in the Congressional Record on Aug. 10, on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to voice my opposition to President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. The stakes could not be higher: Judge Kavanaugh is not the Justice that our nation needs, nor deserves. Voting rights, women's reproductive rights, and affirmative action are all under threat.

Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation could redefine the Supreme Court, and threatens to undermine some of our nation's most important rights for decades to come.

Judge Kavanaugh's nomination poses a threat to voting rights. When the state of South Carolina tried to enforce a draconian voter ID law, the Obama Administration blocked the law. When the case was referred to the US District Court, Judge Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, upheld the voter I.D. law saying, "the South Carolina Law has neither a discriminatory effect nor a discriminatory purpose. Moreover, South Carolina did not act with a discriminatory purpose." The three-judge panel, led by Kavanaugh, upheld the law. The bill was signed by former Governor, and now UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Kavanaugh's nomination also poses a threat to reproductive rights. The landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision not only gave women access to basic health care rights, but it also strengthened a woman's right to choose. We've seen this playbook before, Mr. Speaker; Republicans will stop at nothing to end Roe as we know it. They will chip away it. They will undermine it. They will erode it.

And we know that women of color and women from low-income communities will be the most adversely impacted by restrictions on access to reproductive healthcare.

From Kavanagh's tacit approval of Justice Rehnquist's dissent in Roe vs. Wade, to his own dissent in the 2017 "Jane Doe" vs. HHS case saying, "(we can't allow) a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in U.S. Government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand," it is clear Judge Kavanaugh will be receptive to cases prohibiting women's right to choose.

Finally, while Judge Kavanaugh has never written a judicial opinion on affirmative action, he has written an amicus brief for the Center for Equal Opportunity, an organization opposed to the consideration of race in college admissions decisions.

If affirmative action were to be limited or ended, historically disenfranchised students would have fewer opportunities to access mainstream institutions of higher learning.

As a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-choice Caucus, and as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I will keep fighting to protect women's reproductive rights, voting rights, and affirmative action. We must urge the Senate to oppose Trump's dangerous nominee who represents a direct threat to our values as a nation. We can and must stop the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.